The one notable economic announcement of the day was the Treasury Department's monthly federal budget statement. The U.S. posted a deficit of $97.6 billion in July, which was a bit wider than the $96.0 billion expected. Spending of $297 billion more than offset receipts of $200 billion. This is up from $79.6 billion in July 2012. "Some payments that would normally have been made in July 2012 were instead shifted into June 2012 for calendar reasons, lowering the July 2012 deficit by $36B," said UBS's Maury Harris. Adjusted for this, the July deficit was actually narrower by around $8 billion.

"For all of fiscal year 2013 ending in September, we see the deficit on pace to narrow to $680 billion from $1.1 trillion in fiscal 2012, falling as a share of GDP to 4.1% from 6.8%," said Morgan Stanley's Ted Wieseman.

Shares of BlackBerry surged today. Before the markets opened, BlackBerry's board of directors announced it would be considering strategic alternatives for the company. "These alternatives could include, among others, possible joint ventures, strategic partnerships or alliances, a sale of the Company or other possible transactions," said the board in a statement.

The S&P 500 closed at an all-time high of 1,709 two Fridays ago, but has since struggled to break through 1,700 again. Amid the choppy trading, the ominous Hindenburg Omen has appeared. "There have been 5 Omens triggered out of the past 8 trading sessions," said Jason Goepfert of SentimenTrader via UBS's Art Cashin. "It's extremely rare to see as many Omens occurring together as we've seen over the past 50 days. The last time was prior to the bear market in 2007. The time before that was prior to the bear market in 2000."